Register for startup friday and get to meet the biggest investors and founder in Nigeria and pitch your ideas

The fifth edition of StartUP Friday programme of the Office for ICT Innovation and Entrepreneurship (OIIE), a subsidiary of National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has been scheduled for Lagos State.

The event which will hold on Friday 23 September, 2016, promises to be eventful and impactful within the innovation eco-system in Nigeria, said OIIE in an email to Nigeria CommunicationsWeek.

The programme will hold at the Landmark Events Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos from 2.00pm.

StartUP Friday, designed and organized by the OIIE, is a community building event in Nigeria, that is helping startups to connect to investors, mentors, celebrity entrepreneurs, buyers, partners, consultants, developers and policy makers, thus helping the startups to grow and scale their businesses.

From 73 co-founders in attendance in February 2016 to 974 in July with 74 investors, OIIE has deepened the value in startup community building through provision of seed funding, mentorship, grinding sessions, access to national and global platforms for more than 30 tech-driven start-ups in Nigeria.

A key feature worthy of mention in this upcoming edition of StartUP Friday is the participation of YCombinatorat in the Lagos maiden edition.

Silicon Valley based Ycombinator has been termed the world’s most powerful startup accelerator that Fortune has described as “a spawning ground for emerging tech giants”. Nigerian startups will have an opportunity to pitch for funding and accelerator program at Y Combinator during the Lagos edition of StartUP Friday.

Startup friday features

This edition of StartUP Friday will feature amongst others:

• Seed Stage ShowUP-to-Pitch: innovative seed stage startups will pitch their products that address Agric, Healthcare, Financial Services, Robotics/Drones/IoT and Renewable Energy challenges.
• Growth Stage Pitch: At this session, startups at growth stage, seeking to scale will pitch their startup before the audience of investors.
• FutureHACK Session: where out-of-this world, innovative, futuristic but thought-provoking ideas and/or solutions will be presented for further research and funding into becoming viable ventures.
• Fireside Chat on Sourcing and Investing in Deals; Networking Session amongst startups, investors and ecosystem players.

The most outstanding feature of the Lagos edition of StartUP Friday is tagged FutureHACK. It is a program designed to develop tech-driven solution out of research into future lifestyle that can be disrupted or amplified.

OIIE will be holding a FutureHACK competition for undergraduates of tertiary institutions at Afe Babalola Auditorium in UNILAG on Thursday, September 22 from 10am to 4pm.

During this pitching competition, 6 to 10 top-notch futuristic ideas pitched by the students will be selected to pitch at the StartUP Friday event on September 23.

The top three ideas with great potential impact will receive cash prizes from OIIE and be assigned mentors to help them refine the ideas for prototype development.

If you are an undergraduate with a great tech-driven idea that can solve socio-economic problems or impact on lifestyle in the nearest future, FutureHACK competition is for you. Click here to register to pitch at FutureHACK competition inside UNILAG on September 22.

Other Expected Guests

This edition will have in attendance as special guests of honoursDr. Vincent Olatunji (Acting DG, NITDA), Michael Seibel, (Partner, Y Combinator), Qasar Younis (Partner, Y Combinator), Yemi Candide-Johnson (Senior Partner, Strachan Partners), Ibrahim Sagna (Head, Financial Advisory, African Finance Corporation), Chika Nwobi (Founder, L5Lab), NgoziDozie(Director, OneFi Kaizen Venture Partners), Dr. (Mrs.) Omobola Johnson (Partner, TLCom Partners Nigeria), Marek Zmyslowski (CEO/Founder, Hotel Oga), GossyUkanwoke (Investor/Founder, Beni American University), YeleOkeremi (CEO/MD, Precise Financial Systems Ltd), Niyi Yusuf (Country MD, Accenture Nigeria), Lanre Philips (MD, ELpee Consults).

To register for the epic StartUP Friday event and for an opportunity to pitch as a tech-driven startup, visit the registration page, as stated by OIIE.